Desperate Putin forced to hire jobless Iraqis as Russian war dead pile up

Promises of passports and lucrative monthly salaries of £2,100 are drawing hundreds of young Iraqis into Moscow's ranks to fight its war against Ukraine. Currently, one in three young Iraqis is unemployed and corruption is rampant, so the promise of these wages - more than four times the salary of an Iraqi soldier - has become irresistible to many.

In May, 24-year-old Mohammed Imad posted a TikTok of himself smiling in military fatigues as smoke erupted behind him, on what appeared to be a Ukrainian battlefield. It was accompanied by a caption that read: "Pray for me," featuring a Russian flag. This was the last time Mohammed's mother, Zeinab Jabbar, who lives in Musayab, south of Baghdad, heard from him. He went and never came back," she said. "We Iraqis have seen so many wars. We have had enough. What do we have to do with Russia and Ukraine?"

Mohammad was born during Iraq's sectarian bloodshed, so all he has ever known is a country defined by instability. Like many of his generation, he witnessed war after war - from the US-led Iraqi Freedom Operation to the brutal rise and fall of the Islamic State group last decade.

Influencers and recruiters on TikTok and Telegram are strengthening the allure of fighting on the frontlines by advertising "opportunities to join Russia's ranks with sign-up bonuses of up to nearly £15,400 and a guaranteed Russian passport.

An investigation conducted by AFP found that recruiters are not only posting flashy videos of soldiers in uniform but also provide language guides, teaching phrases such as "mission accomplished" and "suicide drone attack" in Russian, to prepare their recruits for battle.

According to AFP, in the early years of the Syrian war, Moscow openly recruited Middle Eastern fighters to support Bashar al-Assad's regime. Now, social media channels have become the new recruiting ground, this time for Ukraine.

Mohammed's sister, Faten, has spent hours digging through social media for any signs of her brother. She has been met with many different rumours, including that he had the flu, was wounded, and that he was killed near Bakhmut by a Ukrainian drone.

She finally heard from Abbas Hamadullah, an Iraqi fighter better known online as Abbas al-Munaser, who had guided Mohammed's path to Russia. "He was killed," Munaser told AFP, describing how Mohammed had stood up to fire at a drone while others took cover.

"If he is dead, we want his body," Faten said. "It's a shame that young men are going to die in Russia."

Munaser, meanwhile, joined the Russian army in 2024 after failing to find work in Iraq. He now claims to earn around £2,100 a month, which he said is enough to support his family. "There is no future in Iraq," he said.

Russian Ambassador Elbrus Kutrashev sparked diplomatic and political uproar when he suggested that Iraqi youth could take part in Russia's war against Ukraine last month.